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Immune-boosting gel prevents cancer relapse after surgery

Breast cancer surgery could use a helping hand

Jessica Bordeau/BSIP/SPL

By Andy Coghlan

A gel that boosts the immune system can stop cancers from re-growing and spreading in the body. Forty per cent of people with cancer relapse within five years of having tumours removed from their body, but results from a study that tested the gel in mice suggest this might be preventable.

The gel re-boots the immune system to purge any cancer cells left after surgery, so they cannot regrow. The strengthened immune system also eliminates cancer cells that have metastasized, or spread to other parts of …